How Okowa Paid For Asaba Flyover Bridge Built During Uduaghan’s Tenure

The multibillion Asaba flyover bridge built during the administration of former Governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan was duly paid for by the incumbent Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa.

The flyover constructed at the Nnebisi-Anwai-Okpanam Road Roundabout to decongest traffic in Asaba, the state capital is said to be one of the star projects of the former administration.

BigPen Online however was told that not a single kobo was released by the former administration for the construction of the project which gulped N3.5billion naira.

Appearing on the Delta Online Publishers Forum, DOPF, talkshow christened “Frontline” on Wednesday, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, Mr Charles Aniagwu disclosed that Governor Okowa was the one who paid the contractor that handled that project.

He said that the previous administration didn’t release a dime for the project when it was awarded to the construction firm.

BigPen Online gathered that the flyover project in Asaba including the Effurun flyover were handled by CCC, a leading construction company involved in major road construction projects in South-South, South-East and South-West of Nigeria.

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Aniagwu hinted that payment for the flyover bridge’s construction and Okpanam road where some of the road projects’ debt inherited that Okowa’s administration have to clear before he commenced his developmental strides.

Speaking on the topic, “Why Governor Ifeanyi Okowa deserved a second term in office”,  Aniagwu said that Governor Okowa paid for both the construction work and beautification of the flyovers.

He said that the governor did a lot of payment for work done by his predecessors that were not paid for, adding that he is determined to consolidate on the gains of the PDP-led administration

Aniagwu said that Okowa has done excellently well with his “SMART agenda” to deserve a second term promotion, saying what he has done in the past three and half years in office has endeared him to the people of the state.

He said that Governor Okowa deserved to be promoted not on grade aggregate of “credit” but “excellent” having kept faith with his “SMART” agenda.

According to him, before the Okowa’s administration there were a lot of threat to oil installations and production output in the state which impacted on governance but the state government surmounted the challenges in order to meet its target.

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Aniagwu, however reiterated that Okowa has passed all the necessary tests and done all he needed to do for the people of Delta state to qualify him for reelection in the 2019 general elections.

He likened the governor’s reelection bid to an individual wanting to gain admission into the university, stating that Governor Okowa has passed all the tests for promotion to second term in the 2019 general elections.

Aniagwu said: “He brought out reforms in various sectors and he has completed them creditably well. Have created jobs, yes, we have created jobs. We have created platforms to make people create and get jobs. We have directly 6000 people in our job creation scheme. We are not doing it for political reasons.

“We have taken development to the creeks and the people are happy and willing to support the government. A number of youths have gone into agriculture. In a few weeks from now, we are going to launch Delta rice.

“We have built a number of schools. We took advantage of the UBEC law, we have paid our counterpart funds and renewed our primary schools across the state. The storm drainage is part of our efforts to make the state capital take a new look.

“Our roads are connecting to the rural communities. At the end of this administration, we are going to surpass the expectation of the people of Delta state. We have passed our examinations and garnered good grades for admission to second term. We are quite confident that the people of Delta state will vote for us. We are even looking at 5/5 in the vote for Governor Okowa.”

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Fielding questions on the condition of roads in the state, Aniagwu said: “When we came on board we said we will take care of roads in all the local government areas of the state. Before we came on board, No dime was paid to contractor that handled the Asaba flyover bridge. We paid for the job and beautification. The Okpanam road, a penny was not paid before we came on board.

“We have done a number of roads. We have linked local governments to each other by roads. Maryam Babangidda Way, at the end of its completion, will be like Summit Road. In all honesty, we do not want to play politics with projects. This is why we say we need time to consolidate on what we are doing.”